Seagrass beds are fighting
for their lives. Many forces are working together to destroy
our valuable seagrass communities. One of the biggest problems
is human sewage. It overflows inadequate septic tanks and
seeps into the sea, or it flows into rivers during rainy periods.
Sometimes it is even emptied directly into the sea through
pipes!
Chemicals present in the
sewage cause a lot of problems in the sea, as they are nutrients
for algae, which multiply rapidly when exposed to them. When
the algae eventually die, bacteria begin to decompose them,
but in order to decompose all this algae, the bacteria need
a lot of oxygen. The bacteria remove the oxygen from the water,
reducing the amount of oxygen for other marine life. As algae
and bacteria build up in the water, it becomes harder for
sunlight to pass through the water, which makes it harder
for seagrass to produce fresh oxygen through photosynthesis.
The bacteria may eventually use up all the oxygen in the water.
Seagrasses and marine animals (including manatees) would then
die!
Garbage also poses a problem to seagrass
beds, since much of our garbage contains poisonous chemicals
which sometimes seep into ground water or rivers, and eventually
reach the sea. Plastics are also another garbage problem,
as the dropped bags or bottles are blown around in the wind
and can eventually wash into rivers and the sea, where they
can be accidentally ingested by the manatees or other marine
animals. They could then choke on the plastic and die! Aerial
spraying is especially harmful, because undiluted poisons
can be carried by wind directly to the sea. We need to be
extremely careful how we go about our daily lives, as we
could affect other life forms which cannot protect themselves
from us!
